Green Anaconda (Eunectes murinus)

Scientific classification :

Kingdom : Animalia

Phylum : Chordata

Class : Reptilia

Order : Squamata

Suborder : Serpentes

Family : Boidae

Subfamily : Boinae

Genus : Eunectes

Species : E. murinus

The world's largest snake is the green anaconda (Eunectes murinus). This massive snake can be found throughout the northern part of South America. An adult green anaconda can reach lengths of 25 feet (7.6 meters) and can weigh more than 200 pounds (91 kg). Unless you study reptiles, most of what you know about the green anaconda probably comes from popular culture (movies, stories, legends, etc.). So there's a good chance you've encountered quite a few myths and misconceptions over the years. In this article, I'll try to set the record straight about the world's largest snake, the green anaconda. First thing's first. Just how big does this snake get? That depends on whom you ask. For example, I saw a National Geographic article that claimed the green anaconda can weigh up to 500 pounds (227 kilograms). But no snakes this large have ever been documented, much less donated to a zoo or museum. So we have to take such claims with a grain of salt.

Over the years, there have been several captive specimens (in zoos) longer than 25 feet, or 7.6 meters. But there has never been a documented case of a green anaconda growing beyond 30 feet. For many years, the Wildlife Conservation Society has offered a large cash reward for anyone who can document a specimen longer than 30 feet. Nobody has claimed this prize. But it's not the length that makes it the world's largest snake. It's a combination of length and girth. The reticulated python can grow slightly longer than the anaconda. But in terms of sheer mass and bodyweight, no other snake comes close to the green anaconda. It can weigh well over 200 pounds, with a diameter of more than 15 inches. It is a massive snake when fully grown.

When they are fully grown, these snakes do not have any natural predators. This means they are apex predators. They sit (or slither) at the top of their food chain. 

When most people talk about "the anaconda," they are usually referring to the green anaconda, the world's largest snake. But there are actually two anaconda species in South America. The lesser-known yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus) does not get nearly as large as its green cousin. On average, a full-grown yellow anaconda will be 10 - 12 feet long.Another interesting fact about the green anaconda is that it spends much of its life in or near water. There are several reasons for this. First, there is the size factor. If you were as large as the world's largest snake, you would probably spend a lot of time in water too. Swimming in water is much easier than crawling on land, as far as gravity is concerned. The anaconda also preys on animals that can be found in or near the water. It will readily eat fish, caiman and other animals that dwell in the water. And it will also ambush animals that come in for a drink, such as deer and tapir. They reach their monumental size on a diet of wild pigs, deer, birds, turtles, capybara, caimans, and even jaguars. Anacondas are nonvenomous constrictors, coiling their muscular bodies around captured prey and squeezing until the animal asphyxiates. Jaws attached by stretchy ligaments allow them to swallow their prey whole, no matter the size, and they can go weeks or months without food after a big meal.

During the mating season, several males will often compete for the same female. They will tangle up into a "breeding ball," sometimes staying like that for weeks. A female may give birth to 50 or more baby snakes.

Anacondas have been portrayed in horror literature and film, often with the ability to swallow adult humans; these traits are occasionally also attributed to other species, such as the Burmese python and the boa constrictor. Among the most popular films that feature it are the 1997 film, Anaconda, along with its three sequels Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, Anaconda 3: Offspring and Anacondas: Trail of Blood. This species is also the main antagonist in Mathias Bradley's novel, Anacondas: The Terror of the Amazon Rainforest, in which multiple hybrid anacondas escape from a research facility in the Amazon Rainforest and come into contact with a toxic chemical that causes them to rapidly mutate into gigantic snakes. A more positive depiction of the anaconda exists in the short stories "Anaconda" and "El Regreso de Anaconda" ("The Return of Anaconda") by Horacio Quiroga, which are told from the anaconda's point of view.